Korn‘s Jonathan Davis was so excited by ORGY that he created his own record label …
When KISS’ longest-serving guitarist Tommy Thayer–officially The Spaceman for two decades now–Zooms Bryget Chrisfield ahead of the fast-approaching Australian leg of their long-awaited, much-anticipated End Of The Road Tour, he discusses his Mark Wahlberg-in-Rock Star-type journey from fan to joining the band, performing his first-ever show with the glam metal legends in Melbourne (alongside Melbourne Symphony Orchestra)–during which 2003’s KISS Symphony: Alive IV was recorded–and The Spaceman’s spectacular, rocket-launching guitar.
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End Of The Road Tour’s opening spectacle
“In the beginning, we’re coming down on these platforms at the start of Detroit Rock City–it’s hard to describe how cool that is to be up there with the crowd in the stadium going insane, and there’s a lot of adrenaline in that. And it’s a really hard feeling to describe, but it’s unreal … One of the reasons that we do what we do is you get to get out there and be up there on the stage, and it’s rarefied air; it’s a unique and special thing.”
From fan to joining the band
“In the early ‘70s when KISS came out, they were an unknown band that kids were discovering. They had a dangerous, darker kind of image; almost a little bit underground, in a way. You have this guy up there spitting blood and breathing fire and, yeah! It was pretty weird. And parents didn’t like it.”
“I was a fan of the band going all the way back to the very beginning when the first [self-titled] album came out in 1974. I had the first album then Hotter Than Hell and then Dressed To Kill and Alive! and I was a big fan of the band. And I actually kinda cut my teeth when I was learning to play guitar on KISS songs, and KISS guitar solos, so [getting to join the band] was a big thing for me and, you know, the ironic twist is that I’ve been in the band now for 20 years! But back then I was just one of their biggest fans and I’d go to all the shows. I saw them in Portland in ‘74 or ’75, one of the early tours.”
“Black ‘N Blue was the band that I had back in the ‘80s and we were fortunate enough to get an opening slot on a KISS tour, in the mid-‘80s–that’s really when I got to know Gene [Simmons] and Paul [Stanley], and at the time it was also Eric Carr [drummer] and Bruce Kulick [guitarist] in the band.”
“So we went out and did 24 or 25 shows in the US–it was the KISS Asylum Tour–and they kinda took us under their wing. And that’s when I met and got to know those guys, and they were great to us. Gene Simmons ended up producing a couple of our [Black ‘N Blue’s] records and, you know, we’ve built an association and a long-lasting relationship and friendship now for, gosh, almost 40 years! But it really started then and it just progressed from there.”
“After Black ‘N Blue ran its course I needed job and they hired me to work part-time in the KISS organisation, and then things evolved more. I did a lot of different things behind the scenes and then, lo and behold, 20 years ago it just so happened that I got to be the guitar player, because things weren’t working out the way they were before and so I got to step in and do it. And, you know, it was really a dream come true and it’s strange in life what happens, because I was a fan to begin with and then things went full circle and I became the guitar player, and get to live out every kid’s dream by being on stage with KISS.”
Everybody in KISS has always done their own makeup–no makeup artists–and when you do it hundreds of times you get a lot better at it. I look at photos of those early shows, you know, the makeup looked a little crude. But you get better at it over time.
[ Tommy Thayer ]
Channeling Marky Mark’s character in Rock Star
“I saw the movie [Rock Star] and I went, ‘Oh, this kinda looks familiar somehow’–it is a similar story.
“And actually Gene and Paul had seen me in this tribute band and they knew that I could put the makeup on and get up and play KISS songs–and the solos and everything–because it’s something that’s been instilled in my music vocabulary for a long time. I’d been around and I knew I could do it, so that probably helped me a lot–that I knew I could do it and I’d done it a little bit already, in a certain way.”
“It’s been a great story and it’s been a really interesting life, and the things that I’ve been able to do because of this–it’s hard to explain, or it’s hard to believe, in a lotta ways.”
Starting out on sax
“When I was in grade school, when I was 10 or 11 years old–you know, they ask you, ‘Do you wanna be in the choir?’ or, ‘Do you wanna be in the band?’ or, ‘Do you wanna be in the orchestra?’ And I said, ‘Oh, I’ll be in the band.’ And they said, ‘Well, what do you wanna play?’ And I said, ‘Oh, maybe I’ll play saxophone.’ Then I got a guitar a couple of years later and that just really took over.”
“But I made my mum a promise. She said, ‘Well, I’ll help you buy a guitar if you promise to play saxophone until you graduate high school.’ So I made that promise and she helped me get my first electric guitar, which was a Fender Mustang, and I haven’t looked back since then.”
“So I played saxophone at school and I liked it and everything, and it certainly gave me some good background in music – you know, reading music and that sort of thing. I played in the concert band so we were doing symphonic music, but I also played in a jazz band, too, and I like all that stuff. But it doesn’t hold a candle to rock’n’roll music – for me – and obviously that’s why I went in that direction and pursued that, ‘cause it was so much more important to me than anything else; I loved the bands, I loved the music and I loved the whole culture and the vibe of it, and the way everything looked – rock’n’roll took over and was the most important thing.”
Homemade pyros
“Back then [when KISS first started gigging] there was really not as many rules or regulations as far as pyros go. I’ve heard all kinds of stories, like, Paul and Gene tell great stories about back in the day. You know, it wasn’t a professional pyro company, it was guys that were just pyromaniacs and blew up stuff, and they’d have these homemade bombs that they’d load up with gunpowder and blow stuff up! It was pretty crude.”
Outshining headliners from the get-go
“KISS was out as an opening act and they had this huge light-up sign that read ‘KISS’, they had pyros and all that stuff going on. And back then, [headline] bands didn’t think to not allow it or they just didn’t even pay any attention and then KISS would go out there and blow everything up and set the place on fire … Then eventually bands probably got smarter and they started limiting the opening acts on what they could do [laughs].”
I have a guitar that shoots rockets and I have this whole guitar solo where I shoot down parts of the lighting and, you know, I get to destroy the stage set every night with the rockets. So, again, only in KISS; you don’t see that anywhere else! It’s pretty spectacular and it’s a lotta fun to do, too–shooting that thing every night.
[ Tommy Thayer ]
Recording KISS Symphony: Alive IV (2003) in Melbourne
“That was the first official show I did as the lead guitarist of KISS, in 2003 at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne with the [Melbourne] Symphony Orchestra. But we did go there a week earlier and rehearse with them in their place, and it kinda had a familiarity to me; being in a room with an orchestra. And the way the whole thing worked, it didn’t feel foreign at all–I felt at home, actually. And so, in a way, that made that show easier for me, because it was the first one and I was obviously very nervous and I felt a lotta pressure, ‘cause we were recording a live album and doing a DVD and a documentary and all this crazy stuff. So that made it a little easier, ‘cause I felt a familiarity with being around the orchestra, in a way.”
Perfecting The Spaceman look
“I had messed around with KISS makeup, like a lotta kids had, and then we had a tribute band for a while–me and some friends–and so there was some familiarity with that as well, ‘cause I had dabbled in it … Everybody in KISS has always done their own makeup–no makeup artists–and when you do it hundreds of times you get a lot better at it. I look at photos of those early shows, you know, the makeup looked a little crude. But you get better at it over time.”
Onstage tumbles
“[Performing in the space boots] does take some practice, you get used to it as you do it more and, you know, it’s not an easy thing to do all the time–as you girls know, getting up on high heels and that sorta thing. And it’s not to say that we don’t have our mishaps as well, on certain occasions. I’ve fallen over a couple of times on stage and it’s kind of embarrassing, but everybody does it and it’s happened to all of us; it’s happened to the best of us. But you get used to it. I mean, I’ve done 1,000 shows with KISS now, probably–or close to it–and you just get better and a bit more accustomed to [wearing the space boots] every time.”
Playing a rocket-launching guitar
“I have a guitar that shoots rockets and I have this whole guitar solo where I shoot down parts of the lighting and, you know, I get to destroy the stage set every night with the rockets. So, again, only in KISS; you don’t see that anywhere else! It’s pretty spectacular and it’s a lotta fun to do, too–shooting that thing every night.”
KISS END OF THE ROAD TOUR:
Saturday August 20 // ROD LAVER ARENA // Melbourne w/ Dead City Ruins (SOLD OUT)
Sunday August 21 // ROD LAVER ARENA // Melbourne w/ Rival Fire (SOLD OUT)
Tuesday August 23 // ROD LAVER ARENA // Melbourne w/ Dallas Crane
Friday August 26 // QUDOS BANK ARENA // Sydney w/ The Poor
Saturday August 27 // QUDOS BANK ARENA // Sydney w/ Battle Snake
Tuesday August 30 // ADELAIDE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE // Adelaide w/ The Superjesus
Friday September 2 // RAC ARENA // Perth w/ Legs Electric
Tuesday September 6 // BRISBANE ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE // Brisbane w/ Wolfmother
Saturday September 10 // CBUS SUPER STADIUM // Gold Coast w/ Wolfmother & Tumbleweed
